About ISHLT

The International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation is a multidisciplinary, professional organization dedicated to improving the care of patients with advanced heart or lung disease through transplantation, mechanical support and innovative therapies via research, education and advocacy.

The ISHLT Registry has been managed by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) in Richmond, Virginia since 1994. UNOS is a private, nonprofit corporation organized to improve the effectiveness of human organ donation, procurement, distribution, and transplantation.

The ISHLT Registry was established to collect worldwide clinical and scientific status of thoracic transplantation data for continuous evaluation. The goals of the ISHLT Registry are:

To associate persons interested in the fields of heart and lung transplantation, end-stage heart and lung disease, and related sciences.

To encourage and stimulate basic and clinical research in these disciplines and to promote new therapeutic strategies.

To hold scientific meetings featuring presentations and discussions relevant to these disciplines.

To sponsor a scientific journal for the publication of manuscripts related to these disciplines.

To establish and maintain an international registry for heart and lung transplantation.

To award research grants and establish endowments for the study of these disciplines. Data collected and generated by the ISHLT Registry are available to the transplant community. This information has many uses, but perhaps the most important function is to provide information essential for development of effective transplantation policies and to study specific scientific hypothesis. With the aid of comprehensive data about thoracic organ recipients, the transplant community can identify specific factors which maximize thoracic organ use, patient care, organ quality, and graft survival.